The great question
by Fantasiette
Summary: Spirou is very nervous. Today is Fantasio's thirty-third's birthday, and above all, it's the day that Spirou is going to ask Fantasio the greatest question of both their lives.
1. Le cas Lagaffe

« Sort it out! I don't care.  
- Fantasio… Come on, man!  
- I said: I don't CARE! I'm done with this crazy place!  
- Fantasio, we need you to settle the edition of the week.  
- I don't give a damn, Leon! I won't set a toe back into that office until Lagaffe moves his ass from the one next door!"  
The blonde furiously grabbed his hat and put on his large coat, then started going down the stairs, Prunelle running behind him:  
"Fantasio, don't leave me alone here, please man." He begged.  
Fantasio suddenly flip-flopped, so much that Prunelle hit him with full force:  
"Do you know what's going to happen if I stay here, and if I bump into that nitwit again? DO YOU? I'm going to kill him, rip him, hang him, slay him, gut him, and I can tell you it will be reeaaaally bad advertisement for the paper. So I'm telling you, I'd better run off.  
- Fantasio!  
- I said NO! Look… I also have an article to write for the Moustic on the other hand, and I can't afford to lose time here baby-sitting that….that bloody damn crazy half-wit!"  
When he got down the stairs, he was heading towards the entrance door when Prunelle stood up before him, blocking his path with his two hands raised:  
" Fantasio, my old mate, listen to me. If you drop me now, I'm going to have a breakdown.  
- Well I've been having it for too long, Leon, your turn now!  
- Listen to me, thousands of thousands of rogntudjuu, please settle in my office and write the fourth mini-tale before you go, just that one. Please!"  
Fantasio let out a deep sigh and stared at Prunelle. He looked at the dark rings enhancing the black glasses, the dark messy hair, but above all, he got convinced by that begging look.  
"All right, all right, I'll do it.  
- God, thank you mate!  
- But I'll do it from home. Goodbye Prunelle, and good luck with that stupid bloody thousand billions of thousand hells of shitting damned Gaston." Fantasio said.  
And on that note, like a great lord, he put his hat on and left with all the dignity that characterized him.

When he got to his car, Prunelle took his phone and feverishly dialed a number, then waited.  
"Spirou! He said, it's me, Leon! Look, there's been a hitch…  
- What?!, Spirou's voice answered on the line.  
- Lagaffe eventually made Fantasio lose it! He just left!  
- Who did, Gaston?  
- No, Fantasio!  
- Damn it man, it's only half past four and I'm far from being ready!  
- I know! I did everything I could but I couldn't hold him back. I tried tears in my eyes, threat of having a breakdown, but all in vain! You know Fantasio."  
Spirou let out a deep sigh:  
"Oh God yes, I do know him. And yet I am going to propose to him today."  
He thought for a moment:  
"All right, sound the alarm, I want everyone at the meeting place in one hour maximum.  
-What? Come on Spirou, we're not done here, there's too much work to do left!  
- You have another idea in mind? Spirou asked, irritated.  
- Well, as a matter of fact…." Prunelle began.  
He thought for a moment.  
"Err well as a matter of fact no.  
- Fine! Then it's settled. See you Prunelle."  
Spirou hang up and sighed again.  
"Man, I think I'd better hurry." He said to himself.

Today was the day of Fantasio's thirty-third birthday. And today, after having known him forever, and having been his lover for ten years, Spirou had decided to propose to him.


	2. The big day

For several months, Spirou had been planning everything carefully, yet in the greatest secrecy. He wanted to organize a surprise party for Fantasio, inviting all their friends, in front of whom he intended to propose to the man of his life. To that end, he had been searching the town surroundings for the perfect place to settle his reception, and he had found it: in a large clearing with a pretty stream, in the forest nearby. In order to prevent Fantasio from discovering the whole thing by seeing the guests' cars, and as almost all their friends actually knew each other, Spirou had asked everyone to come together, with as few cars as possible, and to park along the little road that ran behind the forest, whereas he planned on having Fantasio arrive from the other side.

Especially for the occasion, the Count had once more employed his genius towards his friends: he had invented a kind of inflatable house, like a "very luxurious tent", as he had himself explained to Spirou. The idea was simple: you could carry the house like a canoe, and you only had to toss it on the ground to make it unfold and inflate until it gave a sort of great marquee, perfect to hold a buffet and about thirty guests. They even had thought up baskets to respect the forest.

When he had talked to the Count, Zaoki and Seccotine about his plans, a year before, they had all got very excited about it, and they had offered their help at once with the organization. Thus, Spirou had just spent the most part of the day in the clearing with them, in order to settle everything down. But as the clock was ticking, and as he had to go back home to change then return to the clearing, he had asked his friends to take care of the last details, and to welcome the guests who were to arrive an hour before Fantasio. In addition to that, the Count had generously offered no less than thirty excellent bottles from his personal cellar of Champignac, and as Zaoki and Seccotine were both beautiful and full of conversation, Spirou wasn't afraid the guests got bored.

His plan was relatively simple: Fantasio used to leave the office at 5:30, and he usually got home around 6:00 PM. Spirou had thought a lot about how he was going to make Fantasio go into the forest right in the middle of the evening. He had first thought about telling him he had felt faint and that he'd got lost, but it didn't sound like him and anyway, Fantasio would've been too much concerned. In addition to that, they each used to prepare something special for the other's birthday, Fantasio would definitely know that Spirou had planned something this year too. So, to make sure he doesn't suspect that Spirou had actually planned a surprise party, the red-headed had decided not to lie saying he didn't organize anything, what would only have increased Fantasio's suspicion. Thus, he had opted for a kind of treasure hunt: when he gets home, Fantasio would find a trail of white roses on the floor, leading to the living room table, on which Spirou would have put a note telling him to go to the place he himself had programmed into the turbotraction's dashboard. Fantasio would think it was some sort of romantic dinner, and he wouldn't suspect the reception.

Therefore, Spirou had thought of everything, planned every detail. Yet his heart was grasped by fear: he knew, deep inside, that Fantasio would never decline his proposal. But his fear had another origin: he didn't know what to tell him. Indeed, Spirou wasn't used to talk a lot about his feelings, and he had hard time putting words on that sort of thing. Several times he had started writing speeches, but they all sounded out-of-tune, fake. Let alone the numerous times Fantasio had almost caught him with his hands right into the cookie jar, as the latter loved watching what his soul mate was doing while Spirou had his back turned. Therefore, one evening, Spirou yelled with fright when he heard Fantasio say:  
"Mmh, not bad, but it lacks authenticity."  
Spirou brusquely stood up, and he shut his computer cover so hard he almost broke it, before yelling:  
"God damn it, Fantasio, do you really have to stick your nose in everything I'm doing?  
- Now, now, Spirou, don't get mad like that, Fantasio retorted, surprised, by the way, what is that? Is it a speech?"  
Then he grinned, coming near Spirou like a cat hunting a mouse.  
"You're trying to seduce me…?"  
Spirou blushed violently, making Fantasio laugh:  
"Thousand thunders, I love seeing you blush… Come here…"  
He tried to pull him into his arms in order to quench his thirst for his lips, but Spirou turned away.  
"No er…it's er…a love story I'm writing", he lied.  
Fantasio stopped:  
"What?!  
- Yeah, yeah, well what?! What's the matter with this? Are you the only one who's got the right to write? Spirou answered, irritated  
- Er…No, no no of course not! This is a very good idea Spirou! If you want, I can give you some advice, what do you say? He offered, trying to make up for it.  
- No, don't bother." Spirou retorted.  
He then shut himself into an angry silence, his heart still pounding wildly. Fantasio had really got close from finding out! On top of that, he was upset, because Fantasio's remark did show that Spirou couldn't manage to put his feelings into words. The blonde understood he had hurt Spirou, and, abashed, he went near him, enlaced his waist with his arms, and put his face into his hair.  
"I'm sorry Spirou, I was clumsy.  
- Mm…" Spirou answered, while he couldn't help enjoying his embrace and the sweet smell of tobacco and Cologne emanating from his body.  
Then Fantasio laughed:  
"Oh, come on my love, you're not going to sulk, are you?"  
In spite of him, and because he couldn't resist Fantasio's famous laugh, Spirou started smiling, and the blonde, stretching his neck, saw he had won. Thus he grabbed Spirou's shoulders, turned him towards him and pulled his face into his chest, hugging him tight, laughing out loud:  
"Haha, I won again!  
- Oh you did, did you? Here, take this, you great pretentious!" Spirou answered, tickling Fantasio on his waist.  
Fantasio was extremely ticklish, and this never missed:  
"Oh no…NOO! NOT THIS! wouaaHAHAHAHAHa!" he cried, trying to escape from Spirou's hands.  
But the latter was brawnier, and, grinning, he took him down and jumped on him:  
"Spirou stop it…I'm giving up….GOD STOP! IT'S UNFAIR!  
- What? I can't understand a word of what you're saying, Spirou smiled, taking great pleasure in torturing him.  
- St….HAHAHAHAHA! No….Sp…Spirouuuuuhouhouhouhouhouuuuu…..  
- Articulate, will you?! I don't undertand!" Spirou laughed.

Spirou was blissfully smiling while recalling this moment, when his cell phone rang again, giving him a start:  
"DAaah…! Damn it… Yes?!  
- Spirou? Pacôme here! He heard the Count of Champignac's joyful voice.  
- Yes, M. Count?  
- Look, I am dreadfully bothered, the marquee has just deflated and it fell upon us!  
- WHAT? Spirou cried out, feeling his heart stop.  
- HAhaha! I was just kidding my young friend!" the Count laughed.  
Spirou let out a deep sigh and closed his eyes:  
"Mr Count. This is not very charitable of you to play with my nerves, guess what, my heart already looks like jelly, Spirou said.  
- Don't worry so much, my friend, I'm sure everything will be just fine. Anyway, everything is settled, we're waiting for you!  
- All right. As for me, I'll join you a little later, there's been a hitch.  
- Wooden sword, nothing untoward I hope?  
- No, well I hope not. Fantasio has already left the redaction, and he's coming home. I'm going to call him and send him someplace else to prevent him from debarking him before I'm gone! But I won't be able to hold him astray for very long, so I told everyone to show up at the meeting place one hour earlier.  
- Wise decision. Don't you worry, Misses Seccotine, Zaoki and I will have them wait.  
- Thank you M. Count. I have to leave you now, I really have a lot of things to do."  
Like combing my hair, for instance, he added for himself, giving his rebel hair a dark look.  
"Haha, truly, you would think we were in some Vaudeville! That's truly lovely!  
- Mmh… That's a point of view. All right, see you then.  
- Very well, Spirou, see you later, young rascal!"  
And he hang up. As for Spirou, he switched to plan B, and dialed Fantasio's number.


	3. Plan B

Fantasio was drumming with his fingers on the driving wheel, frowning. Gaston had put him in a foul mood, and he was grumbling for himself:  
"Damn crazy slacker….Screwed my entire paper… Office in a mess… One day I'm gonna…"  
He was interrupted by his cell phone. It was Spirou. He parked aside and picked up:  
"What? He asked sharply  
- Well well that's what they call a warm welcome!  
- Yes, guess what, I'm a little bit on edge. I'm driving now, coming home, Gaston's just driving me crazy. What do you want?  
- Well that's perfect timing….Would you believe it, I wanted you to do some tiny thing for me…  
- Oh hell no, Spirou I'm sorry but I've seen enough stupid morons for a day, Fantasio cried out.  
- Oh please, Fantasio, I'm working on some really tricky thing right now, and I truly need this."  
Fantasio raised his eyes and sighed:  
"All right all right, what is it you need?!"  
Spirou panicked on the line. He hadn't had time to make up an excuse. He thought that convincing Fantasio would take enough time to allow him to work something out:  
"Err…weeell…."  
Fantasio raised his blond eyebrows:  
"What's going on? He lost patience, you forgot what you needed so desperately?  
- No, no! Er…It's just that…."  
Then he found.  
"Okay look. Don't get angry, but I have lost the cable of the camera you offered me last year.  
- Oh man, you mean I have to go to the computer shop at the other end of town?!  
- Yes…  
- At this time when everyone is going back home?  
- Yes…  
- And you really need this tonight?!  
- Er… Well yes I do, otherwise I can't put my pictures on the computer, thus I can't finish the article for tomorrow, thus I'm gonna get fired."  
Fantasio sighed again:  
"Have you tried Bluetooth?  
- Yep, said Spirou, thinking as fast as he could. Doesn't work. Says it doesn't recognize the camera.  
- Impossible. I have configured the whole thing. Fantasio retorted.  
- Well it doesn't work anymore! Look Fantasio, please, it really is a matter of life and death. I'll pay it off.  
- Yeah, and will you pay off the years of life I'm gonna lose by hanging behind old clinically-dead people and congenital degenerates?  
- Sweetheart, stop sulking and go. The faster you'll go there, the sooner you'll be home with me. And I'm really dying for you…" Spirou purred on the phone, switching tactics.  
The trick, as usual worked. Fantasio would never reject Spirou's advances, and he was always ready to jump on him anywhere, anytime.  
" Ah…. Of course if you ask me this way… But it's only because it's you! God, what wouldn't I do for you…  
- Thank you, my love, Spirou answered, laughing.  
- Mmh…Ok see you in six years."  
And he hang up, sighed, then he smiled with nostalgia:  
"What wouldn't I do for him…" he told himself.  
He started the car again, made a u-turn and went the other way. The traffic was becoming dense, and he sighed again:  
"Come on. For Spirou."


	4. Chasse croise

As for Spirou, he was getting ready to go and buy the white roses he was going to settle in the house and on the forest path which would lead Fantasio to the clearing. He had preferred to buy them as late as possible so that they would keep all their freshness. He put on his crash helmet, his backpack and his leather jacket, and straddled his motorbike, heading towards town. But ten minutes later, he had a very bad surprise:  
"Oh DAMN!" he exclaimed behind his helmet.  
The florist to whom he had planned to buy the roses was closed for renovations.  
"Bummer, just my luck!" Spirou lamented.  
There were, indeed, other florists…But they all were very close to the computer shop he had just sent Fantasio to.  
"Bloody bloody damn bloody hell…." Spirou cursed. He took a look at his watch: it was 5:00. Fantasio should have nearly reached the shop by now.  
"Well, I guess I don't have much choice".  
Mounting his motorbike again, he left the other way.

Slaloming between cars, he soon reached his destination. He parked near the pedestrian street and got off his motorbike. Taking his helmet off, he was going to step into the street when his heart missed a beat: only a few feet ahead of him, Fantasio had just parked the turbotraction, and he had opened the door, looking angry.  
"Good HEAVENS!" Spirou exclaimed, throwing himself to the ground behind his bike.  
He hastily put his helmet back on his head and nestled behind his vehicle, spying Fantasio through the wheels. The blond man was walking with his elegant and nimble steps, and Spirou caught himself admiring him. Wearing his long dark coat with silver buttons, his grey scarf slightly pointing out of his collar, his dark-gloved hands, his rebel blond hair escaping from his dark hat, he looked like a prince, and Spirou felt his heart beating faster:  
"I am going to propose to this man in a few hours", he said to himself, feeling that cursed knot of anxiety twist his stomach again.  
He sighed under his helmet, and waited for the man of his life to go on his way. Then he stood up, and under the puzzled looks of people wondering why that young man was hiding behind his own bike, he started following Fantasio: there was no other way to go to the nearest florist. He was just a few feet away from the blond man, and prayed for the latter not to turn around. But Fantasio was walking fast along the paved street, and Spirou was starting to relax, enjoying the situation, when he saw Fantasio stop, rummage through his coat, curse and raise his eyes to the sky:  
"Fantasio, you bloody idiot!" Spirou heard the blond man say.  
He was going to go back. Spirou had two seconds and a half to find somewhere to hide. His heart beating wildly, he entered the first shop he could find, hid behind the door and waited. He heard Fantasio pass just in front of him, grumbling angrily.

While he was breathing again, Spirou heard a small melodious voice behind him:  
"May I help you, Sir?"  
He turned around and blushed when he was where he had landed: it was a lingerie shop. He took his helmet off, revealing his red-as-his-hair face, and stammered:  
"Er…Sorry it's… it's a mistake."  
The saleswoman seemed to find him very much to her liking, as she came nearer, a cheeky smile on her lips:  
"Oh, you're single?"  
Spirou laughed nervously:  
"Hehe… Well guess what, I'm not, I'll be engaged in a few hours…to a man".  
He thought for a second that the young woman was going to burst into tears.  
"So yeah…You see, it's a mistake. Excuse me, I've got a lot to do…" he said.  
He put his helmet back on, and got out of the shop:  
"Why on Earth do all handsome boys have to be gay?!" the young woman lamented, returning to her lace panties.

Spirou sprang out of the shop, looking towards the entrance of the street: Fantasio hadn't come back yet, but it was only a matter of minutes. He was bound to have forgotten his wallet into the car, and Spirou laughed at his partner's absent-mindedness, before running on the other direction, towards the florist. When he got there, he realized the computer shop was right next door:  
"Man, it's gonna be hot…" he said.  
He turned around, and his heart jumped up again: Fantasio was back in the alley:  
"Ooooh maan…." Spirou exclaimed.  
He rushed into the florist, and got his helmet off:  
"Good evening Madam, I would like to buy twenty white roses please", he asked.  
Like the lingerie saleswoman, the florist seemed to find him to her liking…but she was something like 70 years old. She smiled at him with all the teeth she had left, and answered in a dreadfully sweet voice:  
"But of course, honey".  
She gave him an atrociously meaningful look, and went to the back shop. Spirou sighed:  
"I'm gay, for crying out loud, will you leave me alone?!" he lamented for himself.  
The old woman came back. She took all her time to wrap the roses in a pretty paper, so much that Spirou, his eyes fixed on his watch, had to cough politely:  
"I'm sorry Madam, but I really am in a rush.  
- Aah, right…Love waits for no one!" the old woman answered, giggling like a goose.  
Spirou blushed again, what didn't escape the woman who offered him another look at her magnificent dentures. He hastily paid for the roses, put them carefully into his backpack, thanked the woman and turned away. But he was going to get out of the shop when he started: Fantasio had stopped RIGHT in front of the computer shop and had put his phone to his ear, smiling. Spirou, panicked, couldn't know better who he was calling.  
In his pocket, his phone rang with as much discretion as a trumpet in a graveyard, and Spirou twisted a nail while trying hastily to drag it out from his motorcyclist pants which stuck to his skin. Wincing and flattening again against the wall, he picked up, praying Fantasio hadn't heard his phone ring:  
"Yes?!  
- Spirou? Darling, I've got bad news for you, Fantasio said, yet in a joyful voice.  
- Err…what? Spirou asked while peering at Fantasio through the curtain of the shop.  
- You were so proud of your bike, and guess what, I've parked beside one which looks exactly like yours! I even thought it was yours, actually", he laughed.  
Spirou closed his eyes.  
"Ah….Err yes, that is funny indeed….Haha!" he stammered, his face burning.  
In the street, Fantasio frowned:  
"Spirou? You sound strange. Are you all right?  
- Yeah…Yeah of course mate, everything's all right!  
- That's funny, I hear you as if you were only a few feet away!"  
Spirou thought the situation was becoming hot.  
"Ah? Well now that you said it, indeed! Haha, he said with an atrociously fake voice.  
- Where are you now? Fantasio asked, smiling.  
- Where do you think I am? At home, of course.  
- Are you sure it's not your bike parked near Nicolas Flamel Street? Fantasio asked, laughing.  
- Hell no, of course not. I told you I couldn't leave the house, otherwise I would have went to the computer shop for my cable.  
- I deduce you have already bought my present? Fantasio asked, grinning like a child.  
- Of course I have, you old kid, I did more than a month ago. Come on, stop being a child, go fetch that damn cable and come back to me." Spirou said, smiling in spite of him.  
Fantasio smiled. He was going to hang up when he stopped himself:  
"Spirou?  
- What now? Spirou asked, worried.  
- I love you." Fantasio said with his deep voice.  
And on that note, as he knew Spirou had trouble talking about his feelings, and as he knew the answer, Fantasio hang up. Moved, Spirou watched the blond man contemplate his phone with loving eyes, then enter the computer shop.  
The red-headed remained pensive for a moment, then he heard a voice beside him:  
" May I do something else for you, honey?"  
He started and found himself face to face with the old woman, who seemed to like particularly being close to him. He stammered a vague "No, thanks", bypassed her while putting nervously his helmet on, and ran to the door.

Fantasio entered the computer shop, and he was brusquely pulled out of his daydream when he saw what was awaiting him: a very old woman had got ahead of him, and tried to have the longing-for-suicide looking salesman explain to her the functioning of a computer. That view literally made Fantasio's cloud explode under his feet, and he raised his eyes to the ceiling, while behind him, a helmeted shadow fled along the paved street, carrying a backpack full of white roses.  
"So how do you turn that thing on? The old woman asked with a cracked voice.  
- Madam, as I have explained you for countless times, you have to push that button, there…  
- Ah, young man, you should have said it sooner! Let's see this…"  
Fantasio let out a deep sigh, but he looked at his phone and told himself he would do anything for the love of his life; fifteen minutes later, he was getting out of the shop under the handbag blows the old woman was giving him while saddling him with all the conceivable insults (at least in the 19th century, Fantasio said to himself). When he got out of his reach, he dived his hand into his pocked, grasped his phone and furiously dialed Spirou's number. The latter didn't pick up, and Fantasio reached his answering machine, were he left an angry message:  
"Spirou, it's me again. Look, we'll do without the cable. I just fell upon a bicentennial terrorist, and I didn't have the courage to wait for her to understand how to send an email. So as you can imagine, I got slightly out of myself and….Anyway, I'm sorry but I really have better things to do than rotting for a thousand years into some damn shop for a miserable cable. I'll find another way tonight for your photos, even if I have to re-install your entire system, or else I'm going to go nuts. I'm on my way home. And NO MORE MARKETING!"  
On that note, he hang up.

At home, Spirou was just done setting the roses on the floor. When he listened to Fantasio's message, he looked nervously at the clock: 5:45  
"Okay, he'll be there at 6:30. Let's not waste time".  
He ran to the bedroom to dress up and comb his hear, and when Fantasio arrived at 6:25, Spirou was disappearing with his bike at the horizon. The blonde sighed and got out of his car. He pushed the garden barrier and walked up the alley to the door, which he opened calling Spirou's name. But the red-headed didn't answer, and Fantasio stopped when he saw the first white rose on the floor. Suddenly he understood, and laughed heartily:  
"Spirou, you wily devil, you got me."  
Laughing like a child, he let go of his briefcase, took his hat off, and followed the five roses placed on the floor of the house. When he reached the living room, he discovered, as Spirou had planned, his small note:

"Fantasio,  
As you can guess, I have obviously prepared something for your birthday. I'm waiting for you in a secret place at the very heart of the forest of Brianne, which is a couple of miles away from here. I have recorded the exact location into the turbotraction dashboard, under a code name you'll recognize. Once there, you just follow the roses, they will lead you to me.  
Oh, I must precise that…well… I'm very slightly dressed…. So I'm longing for your arms to hug me tight and warm me up. …  
Come quickly, my love.  
Spirou."

All thrilled, Fantasio didn't need to be asked twice. He rushed to the bathroom, did slightly his hair, put on the special perfume which drove Spirou crazy with desire. Then he changed his shirt and opted for a blue silk one, echoing his eyes, and he unbuttoned the first three buttons, letting a few blond hair escape from his chest. Then he investigated himself in the mirror, and, slowly, his smile died away on his lips, and his face turned into a concerned expression. He plunged his hand into his pocket and took a black velvet box, which he opened. Contemplating the ring it held, he thought for a moment.  
Fantasio was a lot less confident than Spirou as to what he red-headed would answer to the famous question. The blond was thirty-three years old that very day, while Spirou was barely twenty-four. Fantasio was choleric, eccentric, stubborn, temperamental, weird and grumpy, while Spirou was exactly the opposite. He dreaded the very idea of marrying him would scare Spirou, first because his was very young, second because deep inside his heart, Fantasio considered he didn't deserve Spirou.

Dispelling these dark thoughts, he took his coat, put it on, and went back to the car. He went into the navigation panel on the dashboard, and searched through the last recorded destinations. One of them was called "White rose operation". Fantasio smiled and turned on the engine. Then, he moved back into the street, and started following the GPS' instructions. He drove fast, as he was in a hurry to wrap Spirou into his arms which were always willing to take him and hold him against his heart. He traveled without a hitch, and soon, he parked at the point indicated by the GPS, and turned off the car.


	5. The great leap

It was a beautiful autumnal evening, and the sun was slowly fading out from the sky. It was 6:45, and Spirou was extremely nervous. Everyone had arrived, even Zorglub, and chatted joyfully in the clearing, dominated by the Count's sumptuous marquee. Zaoki had went back to the border of the forest to warn them of Fantasio's arrival. Spirou, who had dressed very smartly, wearing a beautiful red satin shirt which fitted his hair, enhanced by his white jacket and pants, was keeping his distances from the guests. His eyes fixed on the path which led to the border of the forest, he was waiting, playing with the jewel case into his pocket.  
Suddenly , he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned around, it was the Count. The latter smiled in a fatherly way, and Spirou tried to smile him back, without much success. Pacome let out a small laugh:  
"I know very well what you are feeling, son…I know you are concerned about taking the plunge. But above all, I know you are afraid because you have absolutely no idea what to tell our friend Fantasio."  
Spirou remained silent. Truly, the old man's perspicacity would never stop stunning him.  
"Spirou, I have never seen a more beautiful love story than yours in all my long life. Then I would like to give you an advice: speak with your heart. No speeches, no rehearsals…"  
Spirou sighed:  
"How am I supposed to talk about love to a man who is gifted with words? Fantasio can bring up astonishing, blazing poems within a second; he is able to make the most beautiful declarations. Whereas I…God, I'm going to sound so ridiculous, so tasteless…"  
The Count smiled:  
"Spirou, you have to be aware of one thing. Love is, in all cases, unspeakable, indefinable, unseizable. You cannot trap it under mere words, for it is a feeling that transcends us, that makes us live, or even survive. Fantasio speaks like that because this is the way he found to let you know about what he feels. You must find yours. Do not try to borrow his poems and metaphors, speak with your own feelings, with your own words, your own images. And you shall be surprised, you will see."

Spirou remained silent for a moment. But then, Zaoki brusquely sprang out of the path, all thrilled:  
"He's coming! He's coming!  
- Good heavens…Oh my god, I can't do it, Spirou panicked.  
- Of course you can, wooden sword! Are you a hero or not?  
- I'm not sure anymore…" Spirou grumbled.  
The Count laughed, and he and Zaoki took the red-headed to the marquee, which Pacome had lit with a very sophisticated remote control. The structure suddenly shone brightly, and all the guests exclaimed in awe. Then silence was made, as they knew Fantasio was coming.  
His heart beating, Spirou was standing straight like a rod, immobile.  
Beside him, Seccotine took his arm and kissed his cheek:  
"I'm so happy for you two." She said, smiling.  
Spirou smiled back, and focused again on the path.

After a few minutes that seemed to last forever to Spirou, Fantasio appeared in the clearing, and everyone shouted:  
"HAPPY BIRTHDAY FANTASIOOOO!"  
And everyone burst out laughing, and cried and exclaimed in glee, under Fantasio's astonished eyes. Spirou smiled, and while he was heading towards Fantasio, he felt his heart beating faster. The blond tossed his head back and let out a blaring laugh:  
"I can't believe it! Oh my…!" he exclaimed.  
Then noticing Spirou coming near him, he stopped, stunned:  
"My sweet sainted aunt, Spirou, you are magnificent.  
- You're not looking bad either…" Spirou answered, smiling.  
He stopped, and stood on tip-toe to reach Fantasio's lips, on which he dropped off a resounding kiss.  
"Happy birthday, angel." He whispered.  
Fantasio was breath-taken, and Spirou took his hand, getting him back into the circle of guests. There, he stopped, turned around, and took Fantasio's hand into his. He contemplated him for a moment, watching the marquee's lights shine in his blue eyes, then he took a deep breath, and launched himself into the deepest declaration of his entire life.

"Fantasio, he began, you know I'm not very good at words, but today I have to tell you something. I tried to write it down countless times, I have built huge speeches, spent nights on this…But all in vain. Everything seemed too pale, too superficial."  
He stopped for a time. Around them, everyone was silent.  
"I don't have your genius for words, Fantasio, your talent for writing, for poetry. But tonight, I want to try and describe exactly what I feel, with my own words, for I need to tell you, quite simply."  
He stopped again. He was on the edge of the abyss, and his heart was beating so loud it was deafening. He blushed and lowered his head, but Fantasio put a gentle hand under his chin and forced him to look at him, and his eyes, full of love, gave Spirou his strength back.  
"Fantasio. We've been friends since our earliest childhood, and lovers for ten years now."  
He paused.  
"Each day of each one of these years, since the beginning, the mere fact of your existence by my side gave me courage, strength, and endless happiness. I can't conceive the very idea of a life without you. Fantasio, I can be a whole person only when I feel your presence, when you look at me, only when you hold me against your chest, only when you laugh".  
New pause.  
"Today, I consider myself to be the luckiest, the most incredibly happy man of all times, for as soon as I was born, I found you. You are my very life, my very soul, each fiber of my being becomes intoxicated with you, at all times. Forever, my heart will be bound to yours, beyond time and space, so much that whatever happens, even in death, we will find each other, for both our essences long for the other, even in the darkest nothingness. When all the lights fade out, when our bodies are nothing more than dust, when everything is dead, we will be one into the immensity of time, I know it, I can feel it. "

Spirou hadn't prepared anything, and these words were coming straight from his heart, plunging right into Fantasio's, who was listening to him, deeply moved and amazed by what he was hearing.

"In your dreams, Spirou kept going, or in some of your darkest bouts of anger, you sometimes tell me that you fear that I leave you. You tell me that you're too old for me, too much flawed, that you are raving mad, condemned, like a damned soul reaching out to an angel. "  
Fantasio's eyes became wet, for Spirou was touching his most intimate fear, with utmost accuracy in his words.

" Fantasio, it's precisely your imperfections have which captured every ounce of my soul and enchained them to you. I am crazy about you, Fantasio, for your beauty is not only physical, it is everywhere inside you. It is in your daily acts, in your explosive words and in your fiery temperament, it is in your tenderness at the heart of night, at the darkest of my fears, when you make your arms become my utmost shelter, your voice my sanctuary. It is in your laugh at the greatest danger's face, your bravery facing the most dreadful opponents. It is, again, in your creative passion, in your photographer and draftsman eye, in your writer and poet hand, in your musician and music-lover ear. You are a flamboyant human being, Fantasio, your beauty is multiple, endless, unique, it keeps moving me again and again, and that's why I will always vow an eternal and unbreakable love for you, Fantasio."

He stopped again, and took a great inspiration, while Fantasio was remaining silent, his lips shaking slighltly, holding Spirou's hands into his, completely overwhelmed by his words.

"Fantasio, when… When I believed you were dead…"  
Spirou's voice died in his throat, submerged by that still very painful memory. Two years ago, Fantasio and he were involved into a kidnapping affair, and they were captured and tortured. In order to break them and make them talk, their abductors had decided to make them believe in the death of the other, by orchestrating fake executions. As he couldn't bear Fantasio's absence anymore, Spirou had almost killed himself, and Fantasio had stopped him at the very last second.

"When I believed you were dead, he resumed, I was nothing more than…than a scream… than a harrowing sob, a desperate howl of pain, lost in the infinite obscurity of a world forever deprived of your light. Life became…unsustainable. Your absence, unacceptable, was like a sword of fire and ice, torturing me every second, it was a hellish world of tears, which sentenced me to see you, to hear you, to smell you only at the heart of ghostly memories, in the course of dark, cruel dreams. I…"

He lowered his head again, and a tear rolled on his cheek. Fantasio hid his own with a discreet hand: for him too, this adventure had been particularly atrocious, and Spirou's words were describing exactly what he had felt. They never talked about what happened. But often at night, they would both wake up with a start, and finding each other in the bed, they would throw themselves to the other's neck. There, holding the other very tight, they comforted each other with soothing words, breathing the other's smell, that smell they thought for a moment they had lost again, before going back to sleep, hugging each other. Spirou's words were allthemore powerful, because it was the first time in two years he was coming back to that painful story.

"That ordeal proved one thing to me, Fantasio: without you, my life is absolutely meaningless. I have always lived, I'm living, and I will always live to make sure you're all right, to get you out of all the messes you excel at putting you in, to protect you against your legendary clumsiness, to soothe your mythical angers, or to throw myself between you and the weapon which threatens your life. My life has no meaning but watching you live, breathe, it has no other goal than sharing everything with you, absolutely everything, until death, and far beyond."

He felt it was time, and plunged his hand into his pocket:  
"We have lived extraordinary things together, Fantasio, we've been to the end of the world, and even to space, and I want to believe this only the beginning. Wherever you will go, I will go, even if I have to take you back from the furthest heavens, or wrest you from the darkest hell."

He pulled the box out, and Fantasio's heart stopped.  
"Fantasio, Spirou said his voice shaking with emotion, I have the great honor to ask you tonight, here, in front of all those we love, if you want to be united with me, forever."

Fantasio, who rarely cried, let a tear roll down his cheek. He grinned broadly, and pulled his own box out of his pocket:  
"Spirou, my love, my utmost reason for being, I have always longed for it." He answered in his deep voice.  
And on that note, he opened the box, and Spirou's face enlightened with a shining smile: by complete chance, Fantasio had chosen the exact same ring: a simple silver ring, with two interlocked garnet circles. Spirou raised star-filled eyes upon Fantasio, and the latter felt his heart explode with love before that marvel-looking face. They both took the rings out of their boxes, and slipped them onto each other's left ring-finger, where they echoed the rings they had bought for their sixth anniversary, which they wore on their right hand. Then they looked at each other again, and Fantasio felt he was going to burst into tears, so he risked a joke:  
"Damn it, soon I'll be covered in jewels. And they already make me show my panties each time we take a plane…"  
Spirou burst out laughing, and encircled Fantasio's neck with his arms:  
"Stop saying rubbish, and do your duty as an engaged man, you idiot.  
- Oh man, there are duties? I haven't signed for this, you know.  
- Well I'll sign for both…"  
And on that note, Spirou captured Fantasio's lips, and he poured all the infinity of his love into that kiss which sealed their union.

Suddenly, they heard a blaring sob: they flip-flopped, and were amazed to see that Gaston had collapsed weeping into Prunelle's arms:  
"Bouhouhouuuu…..I have never heard anything so beautiful and so sad…" he cried into his shoulder, while Prunelle was gently tapping his back, smiling kindly.  
Then the Count stepped forward, and with a voice full of childish joy which magnificently contrasted with his noble white hair, he exclaimed:  
"Well, I say, my friends…. TIME FOR CHAMPAIGN!"  
And under cheers and applauses, everyone hastened, of course, to obey him.

As he was holding him tight in his arms, Fantasio said into Spirou's ear:  
"I want to tell you that I have never, ever heard such a beautiful thing in all my life. Spirou, you couldn't make me a more wonderful gift than by letting your heart speak."  
His face buried into his shoulder, Spirou smiled. Then he raised his head, and beyond Fantasio's shoulder, his glance met the Count's, who were generously uncorking his bottles. A small tear glowing at the corner of his apple, his old friend gave him a benevolent wink. Spirou, happier than ever, offered him his most grateful smile, and nodded his head, in a movement that meant:  
"Thank you".


End file.
